Batgirl in: Escape Practice
by Empoleon66
Summary: How did Barbra Gordon end up dressed up as Harley Quinn and placed in a straitjacket? Blame Zatanna... (epilogue added) (read and review)
1. The Magic Show

It was an exciting night for Gotham City. The local theater was holding a performance by Zatanna, the amazing magician superhero. Many people (many of them fanboys) filled the seats, but the redheaded girl in Row 3 Seat 6 was there not to ogle at her outfit, but to see one particular act...

The show consisted of many things: blindfolded card tricks, pulling doves out of her hat, pulling doves out of other people's hats, hypnosis and levitation tricks. Then, the finale...

"For my last trick, I will now perform an amazing escape. I will be placed in a straitjacket, gagged and blindfolded and then locked in a trunk. Now, since I can't do all of that myself, do I have any volunteers to do me up?"

Naturally, nearly all the men raised their hands, eager to bind the magician. But there was one hand in the air that caught her eye...

"You." Zantanna pointed to Barbra Gordon. "Come up here."

Barbra made her way up to the front of the stage as the jacket was being brought out.

"What's your name, miss?"

"Barbra Gordon."

"Well, Ms. Gordon, have you ever put someone in a straitjacket before?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

(That was a lie. Barbra's alter ego, Batgirl, had trapped many a supervillain inside a straitjacket, usually Harley Quinn. But as Barbra Gordon, she had never touched one.)

"Well, I'll walk you through each step. Trust me, it'll be fun."

"Are you sure about this? I have no idea what to do."

Zatanna leaned in and whispered, "You kidding? A female tying up another female in a straitjacket? The audience is gonna go gaga over this. Just do as I tell you."

Five minutes later, Zatanna was securely tied. She tested out her bonds. "This is pretty darn good! Are you sure you've never done this before?" Zantanna asked with a chuckle.

"Yea..." Barbra replied, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Well, can I ask your another favor? Can you pull my hat over my eyes, shout 'abra-kadabra' and lift it back up?"

"Sure.." Barbra pulled the hat down, shouted the magic words and pulled it back up. Suddenly, there was a black scarf tied over her eyes!

"Woah! How did that happen?"

"Magic, duh. Have you not been paying attention? But, I'm regretting the blindfold. I'm starting to feel dizzy..." Zatanna stated as she started to fall back. Barbra leaped onto the ground in an effort to catch her, but inches from the ground, time seemed to reverse as Zatanna, in a move straight outta "The Matrix", levitated back on her feet, causing the audience to cheer!

"That was a close one! Finally, as you know, I can cast spells. And I might use those spells to get out in a snap. So, any idea on what you should do?"

"Gag you?"

"Yep! Do you have a handkerchief that you can use on me?"

"Yea, in my pocket."

"Great. Make sure I can't speak a word!"

As Barbra reached into her pocket, Zatanna muttered "ylpitlum". Suddenly, the handkerchief in her pocket turned into two...and three...then twenty! The audience roared with laughter!

Finally, Barbra untied the last two handkerchiefs (a red one black one). She shoved the black one into the magician's mouth and tied the red one over her mouth. (Batgirl also had experience silencing criminals, usually Catwoman whenever she got too flirtatious)

The trunk was then wheeled out (no one wheeled it out, it came out by itself. Perhaps by...magic?). Zatanna stepped inside the trunk and winked at the audience (one guy in the first row fainted because of that wink). The trunk suddenly slammed shut. Chains flew out from backstage and wrapped themselves around the trunk, securing it shut. Barbra stepped back as the curtain was drawn shut.

Two minutes later, there was a snap and a loud crashing noise. The curtain was opened and revealed that a stage light had fallen and crushed the trunk! Everyone gasped in horror! (The guy who had fainted just regained consciousness, but fainted again after learning about her apparent demise). Barbra, who was also horrified and was about to rush to Zatanna's aid, but heard a sigh from backstage.

"Aww. What a shame. I liked that trunk."

The crowd gasped as Zatanna, now with the straitjacket tied around her waist as if it was a sweater and the black scarf draped around her shoulders, emerged. Everyone, including Barbra, gave a standing ovation.

"I hope that I didn't worry you guys too much. But then again, did you really think that a mere trunk could hold me, Zatanna?!"

After the show, Barbra was getting ready to leave when she heard a voice in her head:

 _"Come backstage."_


	2. Backstage

A few minutes later, Barbra found herself outside the magician's dressing room. She knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Barbra let herself in. She found the magician feeding her doves and had changed out of her magician outfit and now wore a purple robe.

"Excuse me, Miss Zatanna..."

"Before you ask: no, I will not pull a diamond out from behind your ear," Zatanna said, not looking up.

"No. It's not that. Um, I'm Barbra Gordon. I was in your show earlier."

Zatanna turned to face Barbra and smiled. "Oh, it's you! What can I do for you?"

"You told me to come backstage."

Zatanna looked at her confused. "No I didn't."

"Yea you did. You used telepathy to ask me here."

"No, I didn't...unless...oh no!"

"What?!"

"Circe! She wants to find and destroy me! She's controlling you to do so! Don't worry, I'll clean you of her!" Zatanna shouted as she grabbed her wand and pointed at Barbra's face.

Barbra started to panic. _"What? I'm possessed! That's impossible! I've seen 'The Exorcist'! I'd know if I was possessed by a 'Circe', whatever that is, right?! I-"_

Suddenly, Zatanna started laughing. "Relax! I'm screwing with you! I did call you, I'm sorry."

Barbra was relieved, glad that an exorcism wouldn't be performed on her. "So, Why did you ask me here?"

"Well, I wanted to return your handkerchief to you!" Zatanna suddenly snapped her fingers. "Check your pocket."

Barbra did as instructed and felt the cloth had returned to the inside of her pocket. (There wasn't even a drop of saliva on it. How nice of her; she must've magically dry-cleaned it) "Oh, well thank you, Ms. Zatanna."

"I should thank you for letting me use it."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Did you know that the stage light would fall?"

Zatanna laughed. "Of course I did. I made it fall."

"You did?!"

"Yea. It's pretty funny watching my fanboys have a near-heart attack when they see me get 'crushed'. Wanna know how I did it?"

"Of course! But don't magicians refuse to to reveal their secrets?"

"Yea. But...I like you. Besides. if you tell anyone, I'll just wipe their memory...and then yours," the magician told Barbra ominously before smiling, revealing that she was screwing with her again.

"Well anyways, it was simple. I casted a spell that teleported me out of the trunk. I then slipped backstage where I easily slipped the jacket off while I casted a spell that made the support system of the light rot away."

"How did you cast the spell? I gagged you."

"Yea. But you used the two handkerchiefs on the end of the rope."

"So?"

"So, the last few handkerchiefs on the line are special. If they're exposed to a liquid, say...saliva, they dissolve in an instant. "

"Wow. So, let me guess: after you got out of the trunk, you casted another spell that made the straitjacket slip right off of you?"

"Nope. Escaped from that all on my own."

"You did? But it was only two minutes!"

"What can I say? I'm that good."

"I don't believe you."

Barbra had blurted that last part out. She immediately clapped her hands over her mouth, worried that she offended Zatanna (someone who could probably turn her into a statue just by saying the word backwards.)

Instead, Zatanna chuckled. "Don't believe me, eh? Well, why don't I give you a private performance right now and prove it to you..."

TBC


	3. The Private Show

Barbra felt a mix of excitement and nervousness. "Um, you don't have to. I don't-"

"No! I'm always ready to prove the doubters wrong," Zatanna interjected. "Besides, I could use the practice. My time wasn't that great tonight for some reason."

"Alright...if you insist..."

"First, I can't do it in this old thing," Zatanna said, pointing to her robe.

"Oh, well I can just leave the room or-"

"No need. egnnahc tiftuO!"

The magician outfit that had been tossed to the side suddenly floated up and started to circle around Zatanna. Her robe slowly untied itself and flew off, covering Barbra's face! Barbra threw the robe off her face and found that Zatanna was now back in her magician outfit. "Ta-dah!" (Barbra made a mental note to come back later as Batgirl and ask her how for the spell. It'd be quite handy to change into her crime-fighting outfit in the blink of an eye.) "Now then, let's get that jacket."

Zatanna opened up one of the boxes filled with props and pulled out the jacket.

"Where did you get that jacket, Miss Zatanna?"

"Oh. Well, I got it as a thank-you gift from the owner of a magic shop after I saved his store from being robbed. The robber didn't believe his eyes when I pulled his partner out of my hat!" Zatanna explained with a chuckle. "Now then, buckle me up!"

Barbra repeated what she did earlier that night. Five minutes later, Zatanna was back in the jacket.

"Hmm...are you sure you haven't done this before?" Zatanna asked with a smirk.

"What? No! Of course not!"

"Really? Because-"

"Time for your gag, Miss Zatanna!"

Zatanna sighed. "Alright. You can use use my robe sash to keep the stuffing in."

Barbra took the handkerchief out of her pocket. _"Wait a minute..."_ Barbra spat on the handkerchief, just to be sure Zatanna didn't screw with it when her back was turned. When it didn't dissolve, Batgirl thrusted the spat-upon cloth into the magician's mouth (quickly, before Zatanna could protest about the spit in her mouth). Barbra then took the robe sash (spat on it) and tied it between her teeth.

"Alright, Miss Zatanna, let's see how good you are. Begin!"

Zatanna took a deep breath and started to slowly move her left arm up. It took a bit, but she got her arm above her head! She then placed her boot down onto the sleeves and pulled her right hand out of the jacket. Expertly, she unbuckled all of the jacket buckles within seconds. She threw the jacket to the floor. She pulled the sash out and pulled out the handkerchief out of her mouth.

Barbra (who had been timing the escape on her cell phone) stopped the timer and shouted "62 seconds!"

Zatanna sighed. "What? Darnit! It's usually 60 seconds or less!"

"You're upset by that? That was incredible! You definitely proved me wrong! Hey, can you-"

"Yea. I'm on it. yrD!"

The handkerchief glowed and was drained off all saliva. Zatanna threw the cloth back to Barbra. (Barbra then made another mental note to have Batgirl ask about that spell too. That would be a very handy tool to dry her hair after fights in the sewer with Killer Croc.)

"Hey Miss Zatanna?"

"What? Do you want me to do it upside down in a tank of water now?"

"It's not that. How did you escape so quickly?"

"Practice practice practice!"

"Carnegie Hall style, eh?"

"Yep."

"Ok...well, I know that this is asking a lot...but-"

"You wanna learn how to escape from a straitjacket?"

"Yea..."

"Why, though? You wanna be an escape artist?"

"...yea. That's exactly it!"

(This was partially true. Learning how to escape from a straitjacket would be helpful. She's escaped from killer plants, electric chairs, being tied to the railroad track, shackled to a chair and nearly hypnotized, tied to a table and nearly cut in half by a giant pendulum, etc. A lesson from escaping from this canvas contraption would be rather handy).

Zatanna thought for a minute. "Hmm...well...I could just strap you in it and just coach you though it. Or..."

"Or what?"

"Do you trust me?"

"What?"

"Do. You. Trust. Me?"

"Yea..." Barbra hesitantly said.

"Great! This is gonna be fun!" Zatanna stepped back, grabbed her wand and shouted, "noococ epoR!"

 _"Wait...backwards, that's...ruh-roh..."_


	4. Zatanna's Plan

The dressing room door opened. Ropes, as if they were snakes started to slither into the room and made their way to Barbra's feet.

"Umm...is it too late to back out?" Barbra meekly asked.

"Yep. eransnE!"

The ropes suddenly sprang up and started spinning around Barbra. Before she knew what hit her, she was wrapped in rope from her shoulders to her ankles.

"Umm...Miss Zatanna...this isn't a straitjacket..."

"I know dear. This is all part of the plan, though. You said that you trusted me."

"Yea, but..."

"Are you doubting **ME** , the great Zatanna?!"

"Noofcoursenot!"

"That's what I thought. Now, what are your thoughts on cosplay?"

"I...might have dressed up as you for Halloween last year..."

"I'm flattered," Zatanna said, blushing. "Well, I'll have you know that I'm an expert at it. Observe. esiugsid lrigtaB!"

Zatanna's body glowed. When the light cleared, the magician suddenly became the spitting image of Barbra's alter ego, Batgirl. Her costume looked precisely like the one Barbra wears (a dark purple, skin-tight body suit, bright yellow, knee-length boots, elbow-length gloves and yellow flowing cape). Her face morphed to an exact replica of Barbra's when it was hidden under her mask (Barbra prayed that Zatanna wouldn't take her mask off and realize that she was talking to the person she was dressed as for the past 20 minutes).

"I must confess, your dress-up skills are on point, Miss Zatanna. But what does this have to do with me escaping?"

"Miss Barbra, if you don't stop doubting my plan, I will silence you!" Zatanna chided.

"Sorry."

"Now then, what kind of cosplayer would I be if I didn't share my skills with you?"

"So, who are you gonna dress me up as?"

"Let me show you. nniuQ yelraH otni arbraB nruT!"

Barbra started to glow white like the magician did before. When the light cleared, Barbra...didn't feel that different (unfortunately for her, she was still trapped in ropes). But when Zatanna held up a mirror, Barbra realized Zatanna had worked her dress up magic on her: Barbra was now an exact lookalike of one of her archenemies: Harley Quinn!

"What did you do to me?" Barbra asked while doing an unintentional impression of Harley (the disguise distorted her voice to sound like her enemy).

"It's all part of my plan. Tell me, have you ever been to Arkham Asylum?"

"No!" (Another lie. With her dropping off villains there on a daily basis, Arkham was like a second home to her. A dark, smelly home that was infested with psychopaths.)

"Well, you're about to. How would you, Miss Barbra Gordon, like to escape from a straitjacket in a padded cell at Arkham?"

"What?! No!"

"Oh, come now!"

"Zatanna, let me go now or else-"

"You'll what? You're waaaaay too tied to lift a finger."

"I'll...scream! Wait, no-"

"Then it's time for you gag, 'Harley'! yelraH ssiM gaG!" Zatanna said with a smile.

A white cloth was conjured up from the tip of the magician's wand. Zatanna spat upon the cloth (revenge for what Barbra did earlier) and shoved it into Barbra's mouth. A second was conjured up and used to tie around Barbra's mouth, keeping the cloth in.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

"What was that, Harley? Take you to Arkham Asylum so that you can be strapped up in a straitjacket?" "Batgirl" asked her prisoner.

"Mmph! Mmph!

"Well, if you insist!"

With that, the disguised magician picked up the rope-bound girl up onto her shoulder and said, "mulysA mahkrA ot su tropeleT!"


	5. Going to Arkham

The two of them glowed. When the light cleared, Barbra found herself to be at the entry gate of Arkham Asylum. Zatanna cleared her throat, getting the attention of the guard stationed at his post.

"Batgirl!" the guard shouted. "Geez, you nearly gave me a heart attack! When did you get here?!"

"Never mind that," the phony Batgirl said. "Look! I have someone," she said, placing the bound prisoner at the guard's feet.

"Harley Quinn? What was she doing?"

"She was just about to rob the Gotham National Bank. Luckily, I caught her before a single cent could be stolen."

 _"Really? You couldn't have said that I had successfully robbed the bank?"_ Barbra thought in her mind

"Alright. Good job, I guess. So, what do you want me to do?"

"Call the guards! Tell them to lock this girl away in a padded cell!"

"Right away, Miss!" the guard shouted before running to get the other guards.

 _"Hey, I was afraid that he'd knew whether or not the bank really was robbed!"_ a voice suddenly explained in her head.

Stunned, Barbra looked at Zatanna. She quickly winked at her before looking away.

 _"Zatanna?"_

 _"Yeeeeeeessss?"_

 _"Okay, you can hear me! I've changed my mind, Zatanna! Let me go!"_

 _"You said that you trusted me!"_

 _"That was before you mummified me in rope, dressed me up as a demented clown and sent me to be locked up in this nut house!"_

 _"It won't be that bad! Those padded cells are very comfy."_

 _"ZATANNA!"_

 _"Look, as soon as you escape from the jacket, I'll get you out of there, I promise."_

 _"Won't they notice that a prisoner that they_ _ **JUST**_ _locked up is missing?!"_

 _"We'll cross that road when we get to it."_

Before Barbra could (mentally) say anything else, several guards ran in, carrying a gurney. Barbra was helpless to stop them from lifting her up on the gurney and strapping her down to it.

 _"Zatanna!"_

"Bye Harley Quinn! See you when you inevitably escape and rob another bank!" the fraudulent heroine stated before skipping away.

 _"Zatan-ow!"_

A needle was jabbed into the hoax Harley's neck. Barbra's eyes fluttered closed as she was wheeled inside the insane asylum...

Barbra slowly came to. She was strapped to a dolly and being wheeled through a long hallway. She looked down and realized that she was in a straitjacket (under it was the red and black skin-tight suit that her enemy commonly wore), wearing leg cuffs and had a red ballgag in her mouth.

"Mmph!"

"Good morning, Miss Quinn," the guard wheeling her greeted. "You had best be on your best behavior today."

"Mmph!"

"Why? Well, there is a high schooler from Gotham High coming to interview you as part of his criminology class. Jason Bard, I think his name is."

"Mmph! Mmph Mmph Mmph!"

This was bad bad bad bad bad news for Barbra. There were three reasons that Barbra didn't pay much attention in criminology class. The first one was that her father was police commissioner, so she knew a thing or two straight off the bat. The second was that she was a superhero; she had hands-on experience on a nightly basis.

The third was Jason Bard. He had a chiseled jaw and brown flowing hair. He kept her fantasizing about the two of them going on dates, her rescuing him from the clutches of villains, him rescuing her from bad guys and going to the homecoming dance together (she wanted to ask him last year, but couldn't because Firefly just **haaaaaaad** to try to burn down Gotham City Hall that night). She was gaga over him. And she could not let herself be interviewed by him because knowing her luck when it came to romance, she say something dumb or something would happen to out her as Barbra Gordon, the girl who really really REALLY liked him.

"He'll be here in 10 minutes. Have a good interview, Miss Quinn," the guard said as he unstrapped her from the dolly, shoved her inside the cell and locked her inside.


	6. The Escape

_"Zatanna!"_ Barbra called out telepathically.

 _"You rang?"_ a familiar voice rang in her head.

 _"Zatanna, get me out of here NOW!"_

 _"I told you, Barb. I'll get you out of here when you escape that jacket."_

 _"But Jason Bard is gonna be here in 10 minutes!"_

 _"Ooh, someone has a crush..."_

 _"I'm serious!"_

 _"Look, his imminent arrival will give the motivation to get out quickly."_

 _"And if I don't, he'll try to interview me! I can't be interviewed as Harley!"_

 _"And why not?"_

 _"Because I'm not Harley!"_

 _"Why didn't you say so? I can fix that! esiugsid s'arbraB evomer!"_

Barbra's body glowed. When Barbra could see again, she looked down in horror and realized that she was no longer dressed as her nemesis. Rather, she was back to Barbra Gordon, aka someone who Jason Bard knew quite well.

 _"ZATANNA!"_

 _"What? I fixed your problem! You're no longer Harley Quinn._

 _"But Jason knows who I am! You just made it worse!"_

 _"You need to make up your mind, Barbra; be you or Harley?_

 _"Zatan-"_

 _"Look. You just need to escape. Then I'll let you out, I swear."_

 _"Ok, fine!"_

Barbra sighed in defeat and started to remember how Zatanna escaped before. She slowly started to move her right arm up over her head.

 _"That's right. Just stay calm and keep moving it up."_

Barbra nodded and she eventually worked her arm over her head!

 _"Great! Now, you have to get your hand free to work on the buckles!"_

Barbra used her cuffed feet to step on the belt connecting the sleeves together and pulled her hand out of the sleeve. She started to attack the buckles and within minutes, she was free from it! She unbuckled the ballgag and tossed it on the floor!

 _"I'm free! Let me go now!"_

 _"Not yet. What about the leg cuffs?"_

 _"Shoot! I don't have a bobby pin! I can't pick it!"_

 _"I got you, fam! kcip kcol a arbraB eviG!"_

Suddenly, Barbra had a coughing fit. She gave one big cough and a bobby pin flew out of her mouth!

 _"You couldn't have just teleported one to me?!"_

 _"Eh."_

Barbra quickly picked the lock and the cuffs came off. She was completely free!

 _"There, I'm completely free! Get me outta here!"_

 _"Alright! arbraB tropele-"_

Suddenly, the padded cell's door opened. It let in a face that Barbra did **NOT** want to see.

"Barbra? Is that you?"


	7. Jason? Why are you laughing?

"Is that you, Barbra?"

Barbra stared like a deer in headlights. "Uh...Jason...hi?"

"What are you doing? I'm supposed to be interviewing Harley Quinn!"

"Um..."

"Wait...are you secretly Harley Quinn?"

"What?! No! I mean-no! Ok, look, there's an explanation to this!"

"You mean that there's an explanation as to why you were in a straitjacket, leg irons and why you were apparently ballgagged?" Jason asked, looking at the ground which was littered with restraints.

"No-I mean yes! Wait-I mean...oh God I wish I was dead right about now!"

Barbra closed her eyes, praying for the ground to give out beneath her, when she heard laughing. She opened her eyes and saw that Jason was hysterically laughing.

"Um...Jason? Were you exposed to The Joker's laughing gas?"

"I'm sorry! I just can't anymore! esiugsid ym evomeR!"

Jason was suddenly engulfed in light. When the light cleared, Barbra was stunned to see that Jason wasn't who she thought she was.

"Zatanna?!"

"Surprise!"

"You-I-he-what?!"

"See, it's like I said: you needed motivation. So, I did a little cosplay as your crush as well as the guard who wheeled you in here."

"But how did you know what Jason looked like and how he sounded like?"

"Simple: mind reading."

"Oh."

"And reading your mind has also given away some of your other secrets, Barbra, aka Batgirl!"

Barbra gulped. "How long have you've known?"

"The whole time. Come on, did you truly think I'd just teleport an ordinary girl into this nut house?"

"Um..."

Zatanna pretended to look offended, then laughed. "So...no hard feelings for pretending to be your crush and nearly giving you a heart attack?" the magician asked, holding out her hand.

Barbra thought for a moment before shaking her hand. "Yea. After all, I hid the fact that I was a superheroine. So, I guess we're even."

"Great! Let's get outta here."

"Wait! Won't the guards notice the empty cell?"

"I thought of that. renosirp eht tropeleT!"

A puff of smoke appeared. The smoke cleared, revealing that the real Harley, wearing a straitjacket, rope around her ankles, white cloth around her eyes and a black ballgag, was standing before them.

"Woah! Is that the real Harley?"

"Yep."

"How did you catch her?"

"Right after I took you here, there was an alarm going off at the bank. This little clown right here was trying to get some cash for her 'Mr. J'."

"Mmph!"

"Oh shut up. So, shall we go, Ms. Gordon?"

"Of course. Bye Ms. Harley!"

With that, the two heroes teleported out, leaving the villain to wonder, "What the hell just happened?!"

The End


	8. Epilogue (aka Magician vs Sorceress)

_One week later_

"Hocus Pocus!"

The Gotham Bank was in disarray. Guards' pistols were being turned into doves. Police officers were being laid out by packs of exploding cards. Cash was being sucked into a top hat of a man with blue skin, wearing a tuxedo, red cape and domino mask.

"You've been a lovely audience," he told the frightened bank patrons, who were tied with ropes of handkerchiefs. "Now, watch as The Amazing Mumbo disappears! Mumbo-"

"elpoep esoht esaeleR!"

The ropes suddenly withered away, allowing the patrons to run away screaming. The evil magician, furious, turned around to see Zatanna shaking her head.

"Your magic show's about to have a long intermission, Mumbo; ten to twenty years!" Zatanna told him.

"Zatanna! You know, I'm a huge fan of yours." He paused. "Well, kind of. You know, I think you need a few new tricks. Like, one with rabbits!" Mumbo shouted as he took his hat off and launched a barrage of plush rabbits at Zatanna.

"latroP!" A black portal spawned at the top of her wand, sucking up all the rabbits. "Is that all you got, you malignant magician?"

"Far from it! You'll find that I have way more tricks up my sleeve!" Mumbo shouted as a rope of handkerchiefs suddenly flew out of Mumbo's sleeve, quickly mummifying Zatanna!

"Ugh! You think that this will hold me, Zatanna? sepor eseht morf em esael-Mmph!"

A cloth was suddenly forced into her mouth. Another shorter rope was tied between her teeth and over her mouth.

"Mmph! Mmph!l

"Now now, Zatanna, you should know better than to try to sabotage a fellow magician's act. Now that you're quiet, let me show you another trick that you should incorporate into your show. Heck, I'll make you part of the act! Mumbo Jumbo!"

The desks of the bank suddenly came apart and formed a trunk. Zatanna was lifted up by magic and placed in the trunk with her head and feet sticking out. The trunk was slammed shut and locked by a magically-created padlock.

"Mmph!"

"Now watch as The Amazing Mumbo saws a fellow magician in half!" Mumbo shouted to no one in particular before leaning down to Zatanna and saying, "It's only fair to warn you: I have no idea what I'm doing."

Before Zatanna could be in two places at once, a smoke bomb as thrown into the building, filling the place with smoke. When Mumbo could see again, he was met with a flying dropkick to the chest, sending Mumbo flying.

Batgirl ran into the bank, rushed to her friend and asked, "All you alright?"

 _"Yea,"_ Zatanna answered telepathically. _"But don't worry about me, Barb. Take out this sinister stage magician first."_

"Batgirl!" Mumbo shouted as he got up, clutching his ribs. "Why is everyone trying to crash my performance?!"

"Your performance will be ending early due to criminal intent...and bad reviews!" Batgirl replied. She shot at him with a grappling hook, but Mumbo easily ducked.

"Hah! You missed by nearly a mile!" Mumbo shouted. "Changing the subject, Batgirl, you look cold. Why don't you put a jacket on? Mumbo Jumbo!"

A bolt of light shot from Mumbo's magic wand. When the light cleared, Batgirl looked down and found herself in a straitjacket.

"Well, Mumbo, it looks like I'm stuck. Before you finish me and my friend off, I have one last request."

"What?"

"Take a look at my boots and tell me what you think."

"Uh...ok," a confused Mumbo said as he looked down. "I mean, the yellow boots kinda clash with the canvas of your jacket, but other than that-huh?"

Mumbo noticed that the grappling hook gun had landed between Batgirl's feet. The heroine jumped on her back, sending the grappling hook with her. As it turns out, the hook had latched onto a bank drawer. With the hook pulled back, the bank drawer was launched, nailing Mumbo in the top of his noggin. Batgirl could actually see blue birds surround Mumbo's head as he fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Your act's over, Mumbo," Batgirl told his unconscious body. With the dastardly magic-doer out of the picture, Batgirl focused on escaping. With the knowledge bestowed to her last week, the jacket soon found itself no match for "The Dominoed Dare-Doll".

 _"Lovely job, Barb!"_ Zatanna telepathically praised. _"I clearly taught you well."_

"Well, I learned from the best."

Zatanna blushed under the handkerchiefs. _"So, wanna get me outta here?"_

Batgirl thought for a minute. "I would...but I think I'll let the cops free you."

 _"What?! I can't let the police see me like this! It'll be mortifying!"_

"Well, look on the brightside; at least you won't be discovered by someone you have a crush on."

Zatanna's eyes widened in understanding. _"Are you still upset about me pretending to be Jason?!"_

"I'm not sure. You can ask the cops when they get here. Besides, their arrival will motivate you to escape."

 _"But-"_

"Sorry, can't hear you. Byyyyyyyye!" Batgirl said as she rushed out of the bank.

 _"Barbra! You can't leave me here! Barbra! ...can you at least scratch my nose?"_

The end


End file.
